Young adults’ hopes for the long-term future: from re-enchantment with technology to faith in humanity

Recent scholarly research has claimed that young people are predominantly concerned with their immediate ‘horizon of planning’, resulting in an outlook upon the future that is dominated by present-day concerns. By distinguishing between choices and plans, on the one hand, and hope and faith, on the other, this article analyses how young people relate to the future through their attitudes about responsibility and technology in order to complicate this narrative. The data are drawn from an interview project in which 28 young adults (aged 18–34) discuss both their own future and a general idea of the future of society. Two key findings are discussed. Firstly, respondents are found to place faith in the potential of technology to mitigate future predicaments, and secondly, respondents are found to ascribe mystical or magical qualities to technology. Drawing on these findings, this article suggests that the oft-cited attitude that technology will develop in time to meet the needs of the future does not simply signify a deferral of responsibility onto future generations. Instead, by drawing on scholarship on re-enchantment it is argued that for young adults technological development can represent a refuge of faith and hope for the future.     

Children's participation in foster care placements

This article presents results from a study of the birth children of foster carers and their experiences of growing up with foster siblings. Data were gathered from focus groups (17 participants), discussion groups (16 participants), a questionnaire (684 responses) and eight individual interviews. The children's participation in the fostering placements is in focus. Accounts from the children show that several of them participate in care-giving activities in everyday life. Their participation in the official assignment is however limited and can lead to children taking on responsibility with no support from adults. The tension between children's agency and position in society is addressed. The study shows how power relations between children and adults come into play, how both children and adults (re)-produce positions where children's rights to have a say in questions that concern them are not reflected within fostering processes.     

The Cat and the Cloud: ACT for LGBT Locus of Control,Responsibility, and Acceptance

Advocating acceptance, committed action, and value-guided behavior over experiential avoidance, Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) may aid lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) clients affected by hetero/homonormative social pressure. By conceptualizing LGBT paradigms of internal/external control/responsibility (IC-IR; EC-IR; IC-ER; EC-IR), ACT may be adapted to a myriad of multicultural worldviews. This article presents locus of acceptance as the attributed worth of internal/external cues perceived necessary by the client to achieve self-acceptance. Recognizing visibility and isolation as recurrent LGBT issues, locus of acceptances balances identity as individual (internal acceptance) with identity as community (external acceptance).     

《铁路法》第58条与《民法通则》第123条的冲突与适用

《中华人民共和国铁路法》第58条与《中华人民共和国民法通则》第123条存在冲突。从厘清“基本法律”与基本法律以外的“其他法律”的位阶问题、铁路交通事故中对弱势群体利益的保护以及企业社会责任等角度考量,《民法通则》第123条应当优先适用。     

媒体关注下的CSR信息披露与企业财务绩效关系研究及启示——基于我国A股上市公司CSR报告的实证研究

企业社会责任(CSR)及信息披露已成为当前社会各界共同关注的热点问题。本文利用独立机构发布的我国A股上市公司CSR报告的评级数据,验证了当前时代背景下我国企业社会责任信息披露与企业财务绩效的关系,以及作为信息传递媒介和"公众日程设置者"的媒体的关注对于二者关系的影响作用。研究发现,高水平披露社会责任信息的企业的绩效明显高于低水平企业,但是这种作用关系是在媒体关注度这一变量的完全中介作用之下实现的。这一新发现不仅丰富和拓展了企业社会责任及信息披露的理论研究框架,对于基于战略性CSR思维制定相关战略的企业管理者也深具启发意义。     

宗教文化景观产生的环境背景——以青海石经墙与山西云冈石窟为例

青海石经墙与山西大同云冈石窟是在不同地域产生的具有很大差异的宗教文化景观,本文通过对青海石经墙与山西大同云冈石窟的产生原因的分析,说明宗教文化景观的产生和发展与其所处的环境有着密切的关系。     

Supply Chain Consequences of Subsidies for Corporate Social Responsibility

The use of government incentives tied to market prices as means of boosting corporate social responsibility (CSR) has expanded notably in recent decades. Enhanced business tax deductions for charitable donations and credits for conservation easements are notable cases. While providing incentives for socially desirable behavior to achieve legislative goals has intuitive appeal, the broader economic consequences are not always fully understood. In this study, we examine such wider consequences for supply chains when subsidies for CSR are offered. One effect we identify is that since incentives are typically tied to market value, firms have not only an added incentive to achieve societal objectives (say by donating inventory) but also an incentive to raise output (retail) market prices. A second consequence is that since firms forgo potential revenues by engaging in socially desired behavior, they become increasingly sensitive to supplier pricing; in an uncoordinated supply chain this leads to input (wholesale) price concessions. Among other things, the results underscore that incentives put in place to meet broader societal objectives also have notable ramifications for suppliers, retailers, and consumers in primary markets.     

Health Risk,Inequality Indexes,and Environmental Justice

Inequality indexes have long been used to analyze distributions of income. Studies have recently begun to use these tools to evaluate the equity of distributions of environmental harm. In response, issues have been raised regarding the appropriateness of using income-based measures in the context of undesirable outcomes. We begin from first principles, identifying a theoretical preference structure under which income-based tools can be appropriate for ranking distributions of “bads.” While some critiques of existing applications are valid, they are not a justification for rejecting the approach altogether. Instead, we show how standard income-based measures can be adjusted to accommodate bad outcomes. Rather than inequality indexes, we argue that equally distributed equivalents (EDEs) are well-suited for this purpose since they account for levels and dispersion of outcome distributions. The Kolm–Pollak EDE is particularly useful, having the advantage of consistently evaluating both bads and their complementary goods (e.g., mortality risk and survival probability). As an illustration, we show how these tools can inform an environmental justice analysis of a proposed Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) rule addressing indoor air pollution.     

基于E-NSBM模型的中国省际资源环境效率动态评价

从资源环境系统的内部结构出发,将资源环境评价体系分为生产系统和环境治理系统,针对该结构建立了扩展强自由处置性下的网络DEA模型——E-NSBM模型,将其与窗口分析法相结合,对2005-2012年中国各省资源环境效率进行了评价。结果表明：我国经济发达地区的生产系统效率普遍较高而环境治理系统效率较低;中、西部地区环境治理系统效率较高,但东部地区环境治理系统效率改进幅度最大;综合效率表现差的省份普遍表现为高的能耗强度、碳排放强度和硫强度。因此,各省应根据各自发展需要来确定资源环境效率的改进途径。